(This page is in the process of being updated – stay tuned for all my Vermont paintings!)
VERMONT PAINTINGS 2019 TO CURRENT
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Author Archives: Maria Doglio
Wind In Her Hair Art in Vermont!
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DECEMBER, 2019:
As this year closes and a new one begins, a transition of time and place has occurred. WIND IN HER HAIR Studio has moved to a new home in West Pawlet, Vermont. As things get settled and the studio gets set up, revamping this website and blog is in the works.
The header on this blog shows the last painting I completed in CA – “Lenticular Cloud over Mt. Shasta”. Inspiration for the painting came from a photograph by “Graven Images”. The contrast of stark cold and the warmth of the setting sun reflected in the cloud, which is starting to drift apart, fascinated me.
To anyone who has been following me, thank you for your patience…it’s been a while since my last posting. Transitions take time, but each week is a step closer to be up and painting again!
Happy Holidays – a great time to create! An abundance of inspiration is all around!!
December 20, 2019, Maria Doglio
Over The Moon
“Over the Moon”, acrylic on Canvas, Feb 2018 ~ Maria Doglio
Moon-day Morning, early dark slightly lifting. The first day of daylight saving time. I sleepily shuffle through the kitchen, coffee mug in hand and open the curtains of the south east window of my front room gallery. I look out to find a crescent moon flirting with a cloudy sky, casting just enough light against them to create a dramatic, changing scene of illumination within the surrounding blackness. I’m painting it in my mind.
My thoughts turn to the comfort of familiarity. The countless phases of the moon, the sun’s rise and setting, the consistency of their daily orbits, ties us together in a familiar human experience on this particular planet. We humans watch in tireless awe at the ever changing, creative patterns they paint in their travels, day and night.
No matter how much we insist on our separateness, our countries, customs, languages and borders, the moon rises and brings us all out to stare at the night sky, as it dances in an arc with the stars. The sun rises to chase the moon and darkness into another night far away until it sinks again to follow the moon’s trail. The familiar play needs no translation. It brings our human condition together in oneness.
One night, as a full moon appeared among an amazing array of popcorn like clouds, I snapped a photo as the moon drifted through them, the clouds misting and reforming into a shape I saw as a wolf leaping over it. The inspiration to paint that scene resulted in “Over the Moon”, #4 in my wolf series, completing it. Here is my wall of wolves, where I like to sit and watch the morning unfold.
The sky has lightened now into pale shades of blue and yellow with a hint of pink on the horizon, while a heavy bank of billowy dark clouds move in against it, promising rain. The crescent moon stands alone now, waiting for the sun to show it’s face before moving on. A new day dawns.
Let nature inspire your creativity with abandon – the patterns are endless.
© Maria Doglio March, 2018
Art Flow 2018 & The Full Wolf Moon
At home in my Front Room Gallery. Paying homage to 2017 on it’s last day and welcoming the energy of 2018 and the Full Wolf Moon on it’s first day.
Recently, as I stood in my art room, contemplating the swirl of potential paintings inside me, my inner muse began lining up which would manifest first on the canvas. I began to feel as if my feet were growing roots into the Earth, anchoring me in. Intuitively, I felt the big message was that much more is to come, so stay centered without stemming the creative flow. These moments of profound sense of being never cease to amaze me.
One personal important painting already has it’s beginnings on a 24 x 36 canvas sitting on my easel….the emergence of a visionary depiction of my wolf guardian on the edge of a wood, silently watching me. This vision appeared to me as I drifted into his realm during an acupuncture session. The charcoal sketch is already exuding the energy of his wolf spirit. It encourages me to stay focused and in tune with my inner guidance as I begin the painting process. It’s taken some time to pull the vision out of me from when it first appeared, yet here it comes at the precise moment of the Full Wolf Moon of 2018. The synchronicity of this painting’s appearance is like a personal portend of things to come in the new year and I hope to share more of my creative energy on this blog in more regular monthly posts.
2018
Universal Energy for 2018: 2 + 0 + 1 + 8 = 11
“In numerology the number 11 is a Master Number – ‘Master’ meaning it is of intense/high vibrational frequency and works within the aetherial, magical and transcendental realms of creation. Master numbers possess great potential for learning and growth, and can bring major transformations in your life.
The number 11 is the most intuitive number and is a clear channel to the subconscious. It is the number of leadership, personal power and spiritual truths.” ~ Simone Matthews, Numerologist at www.universallfetools.com
2017 was a tough year for many on our world. It was a year of wake up calls and change, destruction and renewal. A painting that I completed just before the Northern California fires close to home, was entitled “Rebirth”. It is an expression of beings gestating in pods floating in the cosmic soup of a universe. Another synchronistic painting! Each year we go through a ritual of renewal and rebirth. What we choose forms our path. May our wisdom prevail in our choices.
REBIRTH: Acrylic on Canvas, 2017
Upcoming 2018
- HCA Exhibit: In January, I am excited to be part of the Healdsburg Center for the Arts annual Members Exhibition, entitled “Expressions”. This is my first participation in this wonderful gallery. The show runs from January 13 through February 4, 2018. If you are in the area, please stop by to enjoy the wonderful talent of local artists
- Fabric Art: Potential plans to rejoin Made Local Marketplace in Santa Rosa this year with new fabric portfolio creations. I’m currently working on making items, creatively utilizing my abundant supply of fabric remnants. I also hope to do more fabric collage art. Watch for future blog featuring these items.
- Canvas Floor Cloths: In 2016 I started a series of creating 12 canvas rugs, but never completed more than 4; this year, I hope to pick up on that to complete the series. They are intense and time consuming to create, but I’m passionate about them!
- Joining Galleries: I have a goal for 2018 to join more local galleries and answer “calls for artists” ads. Stay tuned for more on my progress to get myself out there!
- More Blogs! I’ve been lax in writing blogs on this site, but am setting the intention to write at least one a month. Also coming is a revamp of my website with the help of a more skilled webmaster!
As I look at the potential of 2018 before me, I begin to understand how important it is to give freedom to one’s creative flow, staying tuned to that personal power and open to growth that raises one higher. In that process, we leave the door open to welcome the circumstances and people that will enhance our lives and personal growth. We are magnets of the energy we exude. May we keep our energy at the higher vibrations.
Wishing all who visit here a magical 2018 filled with creative potential! Shine your light. Thank you for your support.
© Maria Doglio 12-31-17
Solitude of the Forest
Space Clearing for Our Hearts
West Fork Trail, Sedona, AZ ~ 2017, Acrylic on Canvas
Sometimes, if I can’t get to the forest, I paint a memory of one. For this I rely on old photos of places I’ve been that have brought me serenity and joy, allowing a higher guidance to come through. Nature gives us the opportunity to be quiet, to reconnect with the earth, ourselves and our relationship with each other. Here we can listen to the voice of our soul. Julia Cameron* expresses it so well when she says, “…we clear space in our lives in order to center and clear space in our hearts. The soul’s voice, the voice of guidance, then ventures into the clearing we have created for it.”
When I paint a memory of a place and how I was feeling at the time, that energy goes into the painting. If I am successful in that, the energy of the feeling goes back out to the viewer who is sensitive to the energy within the painting.
West Fork trail is in a magical forest – it takes you through meadows, wooded areas and streams deep within it. The painting, West Fork Trail, captures a small part of my journey during my first exposure to Sedona’s energy back in 2004. The memory of it and this particular spot was what I wanted to express in this painting. It hangs in my living room and I can view it from my couch and fall into it’s peacefulness whenever I need to.
Going farther back in time, is this view of a piece of the Hudson River.
Meadow on the Hudson ~ 2015 (Acrylic on two 4×5 canvases)
Meadow on the Hudson was an experiment in a continuous painting on two small canvases. It depicts a little scene from when I lived in Massachusetts and took a trip in a vintage red Thunderbird convertible with a passionate artist friend who I was in love with at the time. For me it has a light hearted memory attached to it, with much joy in breathing in this scene in the moment we were there. A painting can be small and still draw you in to a deeper place.
Finding Serenity captures a moment when the peace of nature with woods and river brings us back to center. We can breath deeply and let go. We can reconnect and ground ourselves, remembering the qualities of life that matter most. One on one time with my daughter was a precious moment.
Finding Serenity 2016 ~ Acrylic on canvas
Take time to nurture yourself. Treat your creativity as a spiritual practice, drawing from your authentic self by tuning in and painting intuitively from the inspiration you find within yourself. The joy of expression through painting is an endless process that keeps on giving.
© Maria Doglio, July 4, 2017
* Excerpt from “The Artist’s way, Every Day” by Julia Cameron
WOLF ENERGY LESSONS
Wolf as a Spiritual Pathfinder
Exploring the Wolf Animal Totem came from a gradual pull from my old friend, Spirit Wolf, who showed up in several visions during recent acupuncture* sessions. Wolf energy stayed with me so strongly in such a patient, protective and loving way, that it became a bit of an obsession. Channeling this energy into painting seemed like the only way I could make sense of understanding how and why this powerful energy was manifesting in my life right now.
I strongly feel that art embodies the vibration of the artist. The energy of what I paint is embodied into the subject and it often jumps out at me in amazing ways and affects those who can relate to the art piece on a personal level. Artists paint from a broader perspective when they are connected to their higher muse–art is a bridge from this higher perspective to the canvas. When I paint intuitively, I feel the tapping of that higher place and allow it to flow as I paint. If you can’t paint what you feel deeply inside, walk away from the canvas until you can. Wait for the flow and it will pop out into your expression on canvas. I always find this process amazing. It was in this way that I started my wolf paintings journey.
Aspects of wolf spirit that resonate strongly within me are: Strong connection with instincts or intuition; High intelligence, wisdom; Loyalty and communication; Deep desire for freedom. It is these aspects I feel in my life that are pushing me to strengthen my intuitive side and utilize my empathic nature to follow a new path. The old ways of being no longer work for me. The attributes of wolf spirit are helping to show the way by showing up in specific moments of my life with their messages. Wolf is the pathfinder. My wolf showed up waiting patiently, watching from the sidelines in a protective sense, reminding me that he is there when I need him. He also showed up “in my face” asking me to focus! Straying off my path is a habit of mine….staying focused, aware, and open to wisdom in an intuitive way will show me the new path that is calling me.
The Painting Process
My inspiration for my wolf paintings came from photos from the internet, (photographers unknown, but am grateful for the inspiration they gave me). I wanted my first painting to reflect the wolf I was reunited with during a shamanic healing journey vision in the early 1990’s. To this day, I can close my eyes, feel it’s fur and his energy as well as the deep emotion of that reunion. It was a very powerful journey. Spirit Wolf, for me, embodies the wolf of that journey.
Spirit Wolf ~ Acrylic on Canvas 12×16
Lady Gray Wolf
Balancing the energies, my second wolf painting has a more feminine quality. This spirit wolf asked to be called “Lady Gray”. She possesses a sweet elegance as she surveys her world in the cold dawn of a winter’s morning, greeting the potential of the new day. All very significantly symbolic for me! My daughter, visionary artist, Kate Langlois, said this of her, “She feels like she is so present and in tune with her innate nature of her existence, her divine duty/dharma!”
Lady Gray Wolf ~ Acrylic on Canvas 12×16
This painting journey had many lessons on many levels. Each subject was a huge challenge and wonderful lesson in painting fur! Capturing the spirit of the wolf that I was feeling was dependent on that flow from the higher perspective. You can feel it when it clicks in, and keeps you going until you allow the painting to tell you when it’s finished.
May you be inspired in your creative journey; challenge yourself – you’ll be amazed what you can do!
*Special thanks to David Wolff Filipello, L.Ac, whose kindred spirit, shared wisdom and healing sessions have helped reunite me once again with the wolf spirit energy expressed here. The journey never ends.
© Maria Doglio, June 2017 ~ Wind In Her Hair Studio
Decorative Art On A Floor
Stenciled Floor Makes a Unique Statement
The Canvas is the Floor
Stenciling a floor in a Mill Valley, CA home was a challenging opportunity to help recreate a unique space for the owner, who brought the New England love of a stenciled house with her to California. The kitchen floor had been previously stenciled years ago, but was now faded and worn. I was approached to do the job through Monarch, my daughter-in-law’s store in Mill Valley, where I applied decorative stenciled art to the walls when the store opened 12 years ago. The style of the stenciled art in the store compliments the Indian imports that are sold there. As in the store, the stenciling in this home compliments the gambral roofed style of this lovely early 1900’s California home.
The floor was prepped – sanded and painted a creamy white by a professional contractor, ready as a primed blank canvas waiting to be filled.
The Floor is not a Wall ~ the Challenges of Floor Stencilling
Prep and planning is key prior to applying a design to any floor, while accounting for any oddities of shape, doorways and built in cabinets that might throw off careful measurements on graph paper. I had photos of the old floor, the old stencils to work with and former pattern drawing from the previous stencil artist, plus my own rough graph paper pattern layout to help guide me in recreating the stenciled pattern on the main floor and two hallways. If I thought a floor is as easy as stencilling a wall, my naive assumption in stencilling my first floor, quickly faded.
The borders came first, then numerous careful measuring and planning each row was calculated as I went, adjusting and compensating for areas of the room that jutted from the wall. The project took 7 hours to complete the main area and one hall the first day, plus 2 more hours on a separate day to complete a small back hall that flowed into the kitchen area. The first day’s work was almost a non-stop stretch, resulting in lots of muscle aches from hunching over the stencils or kneeling along the floor. I realized the next day that I should have taken more breaks to stretch, drink water and eat during the 7 hour stretch! Instead, I worked in a rather obsessed fashion, totally absorbed in the creative and fun process of it.
As Sandra Buckingham notes in her book, Stencilling, A Harrowsmith Guide: “Measuring contributes the mental anguish to floor stenciling; working on your hands and knees provides the physical punishment. The job always takes much longer than you think it will.”
Ultimately, the most important part of stencilling a floor is the planning ahead that keep problems to a minimum. Read as much as you can about other stencil artists’ experiences; learn from their mistakes as well as your own. In spite of careful prep you may still wind up eyeballing some sections so all remains looking balanced. This happened in my case. The pattern absorbs any small irregularities with spacing and the placement of furniture further breaks up any notice of those irregularities. In the end I felt fortunate that it all worked out. I was pleased with the outcome, and most importantly, so was the home owner.
Maria Doglio – December 2016
See stenciled walls at: Monarch, 27 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley, CA 94941
DURGA ART COLLECTIVE SHOW
Live Worms Gallery Features Durga Art Collective
San Francisco, CA ~ November 18, 19 & 20
I am delighted to once again participate in this show as part of the Durga Art Collective. Opening night reception is November 18th. Please join us to view the work, meet the artists and celebrate the diverse creativity of their artist passions!
A sampling of some of my work for the show:
3 Tomatoes in a Ceramic Fish ~ acrylic on canvas
Sunflower ~ 2016 Garden ~ acrylic on canvas
Tropical Fantasy ~ acrylic & fabric Collage on wooden panel
Dream Scape ~ acrylic on canvas board, mounted on a wood panel
WAH! Fest 2016
We Are HERE! = WAH! Fest 2016
WAH! Festival 2016 ~ a festival focusing on women’s work in the arts.
presented by CALI & CO dance/Matt EL in partnership with Dance Mission Theater
April 29, 30 ~ 7pm & 9pm & May 1 ~ 5pm & 7pm
6 exciting shows featuring contemporary dance, live music, visual art and discussion from renowned Bay Area women artists!
Dance Brigade’s Dance Mission
3316 24th St, San Francisco, California 94110
On April 29, 30 and May 1, 2016 at the Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco, you will have the opportunity to experience the strength and creative collaboration of women’s talent in the performing arts of Dance, Music, Fine Art and Creative Discussion. Between performances A & B, in the visual arts gallery, you can enjoy work from three women artists, of whom I am one, as well as a panel discussion facilitated by Bay Area arts professionals. Joining me in the gallery presentation of their work is visionary artist, Kate Langlois and artist, art educator, philanthropist, Nalyne Lunati.
Emergence into HERE, acrylic on canvas 15×30 ~ $950.00 Maria Doglio, 2016
WAH! Festival is a platform for diverse choreographers, musicians and visual artists creating contemporary work through a feminist lens, including those who identify on the gender continuum as woman. WAH! Fest, seeks to highlight the work of women in the arts, while giving back to the community. For more information and tickets, click on www.wahfest.com or on Facebook.
About the painting, Emergence into HERE: I took my artist imagination, inspired by a photo of CALI & CO dancers, and painted a scene of arrival into HERE from the cosmos. They are startled into awareness of higher consciousness of self, while colors of creativity burst and dance around them out of the void.
I am very thrilled and honored to be part of this production, which is rather a family affair of talented people: WAH! Fest creators/presenters are Christine Cali, choreographer/director, my daughter-in-law along with her husband and my son, Matthew Langlois, musician/director. My daughter, Kate Langlois, a visionary artist, joins me in the gallery. The many talented choreographers, musicians and artists that have been gathered to create this festival make a strong statement of women’s diverse talent in today’s world of art and performance. Please join us to help make this first annual event a rousing success of support and stimulation for continuing creativity!
Presenter information: www.calidance.info & www.mattelmusic.com
30% of ticket sales to support San Francisco communities in need: Homeless Children’s Network, and San Francisco Safehouse. Also, 30% of any of my original art pieces sold will be added to this donation.
© Wind In Her Hair Studio, Maria Doglio Art
Inspired Sparks
Journey of Inspired Thought
As 2015 drew to a close, I was in a whirl of crafting and baking for Christmas. Creative painting, on the other hand, was neglected. An empty canvas, which sat on my easel staring out at me usually was enough to spark my imagination. Yet, inspiration was giving me the silent treatment. Then, a photo taken on a whale watching trip in June came into clear focus as painting potential…but “can I do it?” still nagged me into inaction.
In Julia Cameron’s “The Artist Way Every Day”, she writes this excerpt for February 7th: “Out of the notion “I Can” comes the next thought: “I think I will.” The impulse is playful. It is an impulse born of pure faith. The artist has a vision and that vision includes the successful completion of the art he has in mind.”
So I moved into the “I think I will” mode. The photo was of my brother watching dolphins at a ship’s rail, which I playfully dubbed “Old Man and The Sea”. On January 5, 2016, he turned 75 and the desire to honor this milestone was enough to finally turn an idea into action and restore the “I can” to my psyche. I don’t really do portraits of people I know – if I do paint any faces, they are mostly made up out of my imagination in other-worldly, fairy-like or visionary images. I was due for a good challenge and rather pleased with the results–at least everyone knew it was him without a doubt!
“OLD MAN & THE SEA” – Acrylic on Canvas 12/2015
Slow Start Firing Up The Passion in 2016
Julia Cameron states: “Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back.” And…“A creative recovery is a healing process.”
2016 – My desire was to start this new year off in a whirl of inspiration, but instead I seemed to have muddled through all of January, not producing much or finding that the ideas sifting themselves in my brain fizzled before they had a chance to blossom. Then seemingly out of the blue, I plunged into producing three challenging paintings in a clump of creativity that just burst out of the inner me. I love it when that happens! In the process I am inspired back to this blog, which I have woefully neglected. (I still have plans to revamp this website. I hope to make that a reality in the next few months.)
Recently I had picked up “Cezanne, His Life and Works in 500 Images” at the library, absorbing the feeling of his work. I am drawn to how he portrays serenity and strength. I often look to masters of his era to inspire me and teach when I feel stuck. All artists have dry periods. Try to see it not as a detriment, but a fertile void filled with potential. Many times, journal writing jump starts the process. When I feel a restlessness within the void, I know some creative potential is about to be born – that intuitive spark that fires us up again.
Three of the paintings that grew out of my January void reflect what pulled me at the moment in February. The first of these is an adaption of a photo of Cali & Co dance team called “Emergence into HERE”, inspired by their production of “Be Here Now”. My intent is to portray the surprise of emerging from the cosmos into consciousness of HERE.
This meditative scene from a walk along the Russian River with my daughter, is inspired by two photos strung together to show a bucolic stretch of river. My personal challenge was to portray the feeling of serenity in nature we both experienced.
“Finding Serenity” ~ acrylic on canvas, 2/2016
Sometimes even a fashion magazine inspires a theme for a painting, especially if you don’t have access to a live model. The inspiration for “Study in Blue” came from an ad for artistic tile. A few months back, I took a 3-day workshop on fashion drawing to help improve my skills in figures. This painting was a fun challenge for me to capture a pose, muscles and skeletal structure of the model. The blue skin makes her unique and I love the drama of it.
“Study in Blue” ~ acrylic on canvas, 2/2016
I have given myself enough successful challenges to keep wanting to push for more. Each painting allows growth into more. Painting in joy and a sense of playfulness brings the best results. If I find myself struggling with a painting, I leave it until I find that inner flow again.
May your creative path for 2016 lead you on an exciting path of self-discovery and expression. Take the road less traveled and see what it reveals to you.
© Maria Doglio, February 2016
References and thanks to the authors and artists:
- The Artist’s Way Every Day, by Julia Cameron
- Cezanne, by Susie Hodge
- Cali & CO dance/Matt EL, collaborative modern dance and music; www.calidance.info
Wind In Her Hair Studio 